Because the parade is flood-lit, you may be able to use fairly short shutter speeds even at night, but your settings depend on the look you want. If you want to freeze performers, favor faster shutter speeds; if you want a more dynamic look, some motion blur can work very well with bright, colorful subjects.

Stability matters, especially with a long lens. A tripod is ideal, and if that’s not practical, use any support you can.

Watch your highlights carefully. Strong lights and longer exposures can easily blow bright areas to pure white, which loses detail and reduces color. Check the histogram and adjust exposure if needed to protect highlights.

A practical approach is to avoid full auto and monitor results as you shoot: use the lighting available, review images often, and balance shutter speed against the amount of motion blur you want. In short: stabilize the camera, choose shutter speed based on whether you want sharp action or blur, and use the histogram to keep the floodlights from overexposing the scene.